New Delhi, March 3: The Indian Navy’s multilateral exercise - Milan 2020 – was postponed on Monday amid coronavirus outbreak. The military exercise was postponed in view of the safety of all participants and travel restrictions due to COVID-19. Till now, the Navy has not announced the new date for the Milan-2020. In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the government has also asked the Indian Navy, Air Force and Navy to be prepared for quarantine facilities for over 2,500 suspected cases in coming days. Coronavirus in India: Third Case Detected; Italian National Who Landed in Jaipur on February 29 Tests Positive.

The Indian Navy said, “MILAN 2020, a multilateral naval exercise scheduled to be conducted from 18 to 28 March, at Visakhapatnam, has been postponed in view of safety of all participants and travel restrictions due to Coronavirus. We look forward toward scheduling MILAN at later convenient date.”

ANI's Tweet:

The joint naval drill was scheduled to be held from March 18, 2020 in Visakhapatnam. A total of 41 nations were invited for the multilateral exercise, including the Navies of US, France, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The theme of the exercise was Synergy Across the Seas. All the preparations pertaining to the naval exercise at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh were complete. Coronavirus Outbreak: Air India Issues Alert For Travellers On Board February 25 Flight AI 154 From Vienna to Delhi After Man on Board Tested Positive for COVID-19.

The MILAN 2020 included a wider array of exercises in the sea in multi-national groupings with seamanship drills, simulation of complex operational scenarios, tactical manoeuvres and others. Milan, a multilateral naval exercise hosted by India, made a modest beginning in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1995 with the participation of four littoral navies. It is a biennial congregation of friendly navies. Over the last 25 years, it has progressively grown in magnitude with the previous edition in 2018 being attended by 17 countries.

In the last 48 hours, three positive cases of have been detected in India, including an Italian national who landed in Jaipur on February 29. The other two patients suffering from COVID-19 are from Delhi ad Bengaluru based software engineer. Meanwhile, six people who came in contact with the Italian national, were also tested positive for the deadly virus by a hospital in Lucknow. All six patients are currently admitted to a hospital in Delhi. Their sample have been sent to Pune's National Institute of Virology for confirmation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2020 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).